


glubshrug

by avosettas



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Gen, Pets, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Swapfell Papyrus (Undertale), Swapfell Sans (Undertale), Swapfell Undyne (Undertale), Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26455237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avosettas/pseuds/avosettas
Summary: undyne:Also I got a fish. Look!!!undyne:[IMG_96.JPG]papyrus:cannibalismundyne:I’M NOT GOING TO EAT IT!!!~this started as "i'm going to give sf papyrus a fish" and ended up as "sf papyrus is going to get a fish but also Brother Time"
Relationships: Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Papyrus & Undyne (Undertale)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	glubshrug

**Author's Note:**

> it's ya girl, back with the mediocre fic.  
> anyway i just started a new job and i'm dead so here's this. 
> 
> i use popatochisssp's version of swapfell (indigo). her sans likes math and works too hard and is an actuary (math dude) on the surface. her papyrus does furry commission bc he's epic. 
> 
> ok i have work in the morning bye

Papyrus mostly spends his days at home. There are _a lot_ more people on the Surface, and even though the humans were mostly sympathetic, they still made him nervous. 

Without the Queen at the helm, monsters didn’t really want war - even Alphys and Sans. Nowadays, the two of them mostly led the peacekeeping efforts among monsters - no one wanted to defy the former commander of the Royal Guard or her fiercest lieutenant. As for ruling, Asgore had… sort of taken over, but he was shy and soft spoken from years in the Ruins. 

Papyrus liked that fine, and plenty of monsters were okay with that (probably because Sans and Alphys were right beside him, enforcing the agreements he made with the humans). And there was Chara, too, monsterkind’s most enthusiastic little spokesperson. Papyrus liked them. 

But really, he had no business being in the Embassy. He hadn’t been a sentry more than a month, and he wasn’t all that important to the “continued relations of monster and humankind”. So mostly, he spent his time at home, trawling human social media, occasionally making accounts if a site struck his fancy, and shooting the shit with Undyne. 

**undyne:** [IMG_95.JPG]  
**papyrus:** what is that  
**undyne:** Alphys helped me set up some stuff for hydroponics in our basement! 

He totally does not have to google hydroponics. 

**papyrus:** oh neat  
**papyrus:** gonna grow some weed in there?  
**undyne:** NO!!!!!

~

He doesn’t hear from her again until awhile later. The house is pretty quiet, except for the occasional sound of the icemaker downstairs. 

**undyne:** Also I got a fish. Look!!!  
**undyne:** [IMG_96.JPG]  
**papyrus:** cannibalism  
**undyne:** I’M NOT GOING TO EAT IT!!!

It’s a betta fish, apparently. She’s named it after a character from an anime. (Which one, Papyrus does not remember.) 

**undyne:** They’re supposed to be like super easy to take care of. Also Alphys says it isn’t healthy for me to be alone all day.  
**undyne:** Hey we should get you a pet! You literally never leave your house it’d be good for you to have company!  
**papyrus:** i leave my house. just yesterday i went 2 therapy.  
**undyne:** Yeah and then you got home and went right back to sleep!!! I know you Pap!!!

~

“undyne thinks i should get a pet.” 

Sans chews his food thoughtfully for a moment. He’s brought back Thai - Papyrus is glad, because he looks exhausted, but it’s hard to stop Sans from cooking. Especially since Papyrus is terrible at it. “WHY?” 

“she got a fish, ‘cause alphys thinks it’s bad for her to be alone all day, and then started nagging me about being even worse than her.” 

“WELL, YOU DO ONLY LEAVE THE HOUSE FOR THERAPY.” 

“wow, my own brother -” 

“YES, YES, WHATEVER.” Then, he stops. “WAIT,” Sans snickers, “SHE GOT A _FISH_?” 

“yeah, i know, right?” 

(They kind of drop the pet conversation and spend the rest of dinner laughing about Undyne, a fish monster, having a pet fish. Because it really is hilarious.

It’s nice, Papyrus thinks, that Sans isn’t as stressed as he was Underground, or even just after they got to the Surface.) 

~

Later, Papyrus goes downstairs for coffee. He’s got commissions to finish and stars help him, he’s going to get them done tonight. Sans is on the couch, watching some shitty late night show. 

“go to bed,” Papyrus says as he passes the television. 

“YOU GO TO BED,” Sans retorts, lowering the volume a bit. 

He is, Papyrus notices, at least in his pajamas - a shirt that reads “MATH PUNS ARE THE FIRST SIN(MADNESS)”, and some pants with a silly pattern that Papyrus bought him when they first surfaced. Back Underground, he was too paranoid to ever change out of clothes he could fight in - now, he still sleeps lighter than an infant, but at least he wears comfortable clothes to do it. 

Papyrus makes his coffee as Sans flicks through the channels. A ton of milk, and so much sugar that it barely dissolves. “y’want coffee?” 

“UNLIKE YOU, I ACTUALLY NEED TO BE AWAKE AT A CERTAIN TIME TOMORROW.”

“what’s that gotta do with coffee, huh?” Sans rolls his eyes, but he scoots over when Papyrus kicks at his legs to sit beside him. 

“YOU’RE GOING TO RUIN YOUR SLEEP SCHEDULE,” Sans argues. 

“never had one.” Papyrus snorts. Sans just shakes his head and turns the volume back up a bit. It’s some horrible sitcom, and the main characters, a husband and wife, seem to hate each other. Papyrus doesn’t really understand human television. 

After a few episodes, Sans lowers the volume a bit and announces, “I’M GOING TO BED.” 

“okay,” Papyrus shrugs. “you can just turn it off, i’m not gonna be here long.” 

“ALRIGHT.” The television blinks off. “ALSO, ABOUT THE CONVERSATION WE HAD AT DINNER…” 

“what, the pet thing?” Papyrus asks. 

“YES, THE PET THING.” Sans says impatiently. “LOOK, YOU’RE AN ADULT. SO YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT. JUST WARN ME, FIRST.”

“wait, seriously?” 

“YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS,” Sans rolls his eyes, but his mouth is quirked up a bit, too. “AND I’M NOT GOING TO LIE - I AGREE WITH UNDYNE.” 

“ _wow_ , i cannot believe you.” 

“GOODNIGHT, PAPYRUS.” Sans says, and Papyrus scowls, because he can tell his brother is restraining laughter. 

~

The coffee doesn’t work, so Papyrus ends up waking up the next morning with an unfinished (and slightly scribbled on) commission in front of him. There’s a sticky note taped to his desk, written in capitalized comic sans. 

_MAKE SURE YOU EAT SOMETHING (NOT COFFEE!) FOR BREAKFAST!_

_\- SANS_

It’s already 10:30, so Papyrus figures he might as well eat, if only to appease his brother (and his therapist). Undyne texts him as he’s making toast. It’s one of the few things he can make alone. 

**undyne:** [IMG_97.JPG]  
**papyrus:** i love him  
**papyrus:** btw did u like research b4 u got him  
**undyne:** Yeah!!! There’s a ton of forums and sites to look at  
**undyne:** WAIT are you gonna get a fish??? Omg  
**papyrus:** yeah sans made fun of me + told me i could get a pet lmao  
**papyrus:** what forums  
**undyne:** Well I’m sure I’ll hear all about that later from Alphys. You’re on reddit right?  
**papyrus:** i am on all of the social medias  
**undyne:** Lol well then try r/bettafish they’re super helpful!

He isn’t really on all the social medias. (Media? Medias? Medii? Whatever.) But reddit _is_ one he has, because he likes the cat subs. He doesn’t ever post or comment, but sometimes he upvotes stuff. 

He types “bettafish” into the search bar as he chews on his (very burnt) toast. There are crumbs falling into his sleeves. 

It’s a big sub. Over a hundred thousand members. He clicks _join_ and jumps around on the page. 

_Bettas need a minimum of 5 gallons…_

~

 **papyrus:** holy fuck i thought fish were supposed 2 be easy  
**undyne:** >:O  
**papyrus:** u KNOW im talking about the bettas. u know i am

~

“gonna go to the pet store tomorrow,” Papyrus tells Sans as they eat dinner. It’s really the only time they spend together - Papyrus spends most of his days napping on and off and drawing, and Sans is usually out working. 

“SO YOU’RE GOING TO GET A FISH?” Sans prods his dinner, a little hard. 

“yeah. they’re actually a lot more work than i thought but uh. the therapist thinks it might be good for me to have something like that to focus on,” Papyrus says hesitantly. 

Sans nods. “I COULD - I COULD COME WITH YOU, IF YOU WANT? I’M OFF TOMORROW.” 

“sure.” 

~

“okay, i hate this already,” Papyrus groans as Sans pushes him through the door of the pet store. 

“IT’S A STORE. FOR PEOPLE WITH PETS!” Sans argues. “YOU’LL BE FINE! DO YOU WANT TO START… BICYCLING? YOUR FISH TANK -”

“oh my fucking - cycling, bro. _cycling_.” 

“WHATEVER.”

Papyrus… sort of leads the way to the fish section, but really, Sans just falls back and doesn’t move until he does. It’s a little passive aggressive and Papyrus is tempted to just stand there until Sans gets fed up, but he’s excited about this. 

There are a bunch of bettas in cups on the ends of the shelves in the fish section, and Sans eyes them as Papyrus unlocks his phone and consults the list he’s made. “THERE’S NO WAY THAT’S HEALTHY FOR THEM.”

“‘s not, but y’know. capitalism.” Sans frowns almost comically, and looks like he might explode. “tanks are over here,” Papyrus says with a little bit of a snicker. 

They pick out a nice, big ten gallon. He’s not confident in his ability to keep plants alive (and Sans shakes his head when he sees him looking), so Papyrus buys silk plants only, and some little ceramic caves. He gets the heater and filter… more or less at random. The packaging says they’ll work for ten gallon tanks, so it should be fine. 

~

“SO WHAT NOW?” Sans asks as Papyrus slides into the passenger seat. 

“now i wait for the tank to get all full of good bacteria,” Papyrus replies, shaking a bottle they’d picked up labeled _Stability_ at his brother. “and then i can get a fish ‘nd it won’t die from ammonia poisoning.” 

“GREAT,” Sans says, and Papyrus can’t really tell if he means it. He can’t really read his brother’s face. 

~

It takes four weeks for the tank to cycle. Papyrus tests the water everyday. 

Sans does what he always does - works himself too hard and comes home stressed. So Papyrus does what he always does, too - draws, sometimes for himself and sometimes for commissions, and quietly worries about his brother. But he adds other things to that, new hobbies - fishkeeping. Mostly, right now, it’s just water changes and testing, to make sure it’ll be alright when he gets a betta. But he already loves it. 

“I’VE BEEN THINKING,” Sans says at dinner, still the only time they really… talk. “I MIGHT, ER. GET MY OWN PET. I THINK I’D LIKE A CAT.” 

“yeah?” 

“YES. I…” He looks pained, and Papyrus puts his fork down and nearly leans across the table, but then Sans continues. “I’M STILL NOT READY TO… SEE ANYONE. BUT I THINK HAVING A PET TO TAKE CARE OF WOULD HELP ME. IT’S ALREADY HELPED YOU.” 

Papyrus laughs a bit. “you can have a pet,” he says. “on one condition.” 

“OH?” Sans asks, obviously aware that Papyrus is joking. Papyrus can see it in his eyelights. “WHAT WOULD THAT BE?” 

“cut down your work hours. no therapist means you gotta take care of yourself ‘nd you’re not,” Papyrus says. 

Sans frowns. “WE - I - …” 

He can’t really use the _we need me to do_ this thing _to survive_ argument anymore, not on the surface. Not to mention, he freelances, and it pays well. He could stand to take a day off in a week, or work shorter hours, in Papyrus’s opinion. And G had a high value, compared to human money. They’re comfortable. 

“‘m serious,” Papyrus says. “i - i hate, i hate seeing you work yourself to death for no reason.” 

Sans closes his eyes and sigh. “FINE,” he says. “I’LL CUT DOWN HOW MUCH I’M WORKING.” He opens his eyes again. There’s exhaustion in them that Papyrus hadn’t see before, but also, now, mirth. “YOU’RE GETTING GOOD AT STANDING UP FOR YOURSELF. I’M. I GUESS THAT THERAPIST IS GOOD FOR YOU. I’M PROUD OF YOU, YOU KNOW.” 

“yup,” Papyrus says with a grin. “thanks, bro.” 

~

(Papyrus picks up a fish from the store the next day. It’s smaller than the rest, even though it’s male, and a dark shade of red that looks purple. Sans makes him name it Blackberry.

He does.) 

(Sans gets a cat a week later. A menace, in Papyrus’s opinion, but it makes Sans happy. 

He names it Fi, short for Fibonacci, and Papyrus nearly tackles him when he finds out that that’s a math thing.)


End file.
